Many liquids, such as soaps, creams, and lotions, utilize pump action dispensers. In such dispensers, a head piece unit attaches onto a container, wherein a liquid is retained. Generally, such containers have flat bottoms so as to stand upright. Head piece units usually, although not always, threadedly attach to the container, serving as a cap to seal the container as well as a pump to dispense liquid therefrom. Head piece units often have a dispensing head connected to a spring-powered vacuum, which is connected to a dip tube. To use the pump action dispenser, a user depresses the unit's head, which causes the spring(s) to contract, which, in turn, creates a suction force that draws the liquid up through the dip tube and out through the dispensing head. The dip tube can take a number of different forms and sizes, but commonly such tubes extend to at least the bottom of a container and sometimes, they are angled at their terminus to maximize their contact with the liquid.
Inevitably, however, liquid in the container will decrease to a level which is not siphonable by the dip tubes. Because such containers generally have a flat bottom, the dip tube fails to interact with the liquid either around the dip tube or on the other side of the container's bottom, if the tube's terminus is angled. Indeed, with normal containers and dispensing units, gravity causes the liquid to disperse evenly across the container's bottom, and the dip tube cannot contact it all. A need therefore exists for a container configured to permit the dip tube to reach all of the liquid retained therein, while remaining stabilized in an upright position.
Solutions to meet this need have been attempted. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,932, incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, discloses a modular dispensing system wherein, in some embodiments, the container's bottom provides for slightly tapered walls. While this disclosure does provide for interchangeability and slightly tapered container walls, much steeper tapering is necessary to enable the dip tube to contact the full quantity of the liquid.
Another attempt to meet this need may be found with respect to U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,272, incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, which teaches a dispensing system wherein the dip tube has a weighted terminus. This disclosure provides for a dip tube that can be positioned such that gravity may draw the dip tube towards one side of the container or the other so as to make contact with more of the liquid gathered at the container's bottom. However, this requires that the user tilt, tip or otherwise excessively maneuver the container, which can affect the user's ability to use the container in certain circumstances.
Yet another attempt can be seen with respect to U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,614, incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, which generally discloses a soap dispensing bag that utilizes gravity to fully dispense the soap. While this disclosure is indeed designed to entirely dispense the soap, and it does not require manipulation to do so, it suffers from its incomptability with standard pump action liquid dispensing systems, which dispense the liquid using the top-mounted pump action dispensing system generally described above.
Moreover, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0175382, incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, discloses a two-piece dispenser. While this disclosure does enable a user to separate the top portion and more easily access the lower portion, presumably where the remainder of the liquid may be, it fails to provide for a way that enables a user to access this remainder via the pump dispenser top.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,819, incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, generally teaches a dual-compartment bottle system having a base with tapered edges. This disclosure provides for sloped edges of the bottom portion, thereby causing the liquid to collect somewhat towards the center of the base. However, this set up fails to fully direct the liquid to a point of suction from the dip tube.
As can be seen, no solution in existence comprises the beneficial characteristics described in the following disclosure. Thus, there remains a need for a new liquid dispensing system and apparatus allowing users to dispense the full amount of liquid retained in a container without undue maneuvering or frustration.